On December 6th, the Tattler erroneously reported that existing Emery School Board member Barbara Inch was endorsed by the resident advocacy group Residents United for a Livable Emeryville when she ran for that office in 2016. In fact Ms Inch was not endorsed by RULE at that time or since. Officially that group did not weigh in on the 2016 Emery School Board election. After Board candidate Cruz Vargas refused to interview with RULE for their purposes of choosing candidates for endorsement, the group didn't request to meet Ms Inch and subsequently no candidate was picked for that office that year.
After receiving tips that the December 6th Tattler story was inaccurate, we reached out to several RULE members who had memory that Ms Inch was endorsed but a checking of internal RULE documents showed Ms Inch was never actually endorsed. Ms Inch it should be stated, remains popular with many RULE members regardless.
The Tattler got the false information for the story from two RULE members who's memories were inaccurate. We apologize for the mistake and have corrected the December 6th story.
Showing posts with label Tattler Retraction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tattler Retraction. Show all posts
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Donn Merriam: Tattler Takes Back School Board Endorsment
The Tattler Takes a Mulligan:
Opinion
Emeryville's right wing and the sycophants of the power elite in town have long called on the Tattler to take back what it has said and to that we've always responded; show us where we're wrong and the Tattler will post a retraction and an apology. Well, consider this a retraction and an apology: we endorsed Donn Merriam for the Emery School Board in 2014 and we were wrong and we apologize.
Donn Merriam sucks on the School Board...we're the first to admit it. He's served as a bump on a log and a 'yes man' to the current board president's dark and community disempowering vision since he got there. Before the last election, we thought Donn would be a breath of fresh air, likely better than the guy he beat out, Miguel Dwin; the former yes man for then School Board President Josh Simon. Now we can't qualify how he's been any better than Mr Dwin, indeed, he's shown to be actually worse in some regards.
In our defense, if you read the Tattler endorsement of Donn Merriam from October 2014, you'll note it was not our fondness for Mr Merriam as much as our realization of the need to get rid of Miguel Dwin that drove the endorsement. Mr Merriam was a new face and we went with that; a low bar that we admitted at the time. We now realize, some 13 months later, just how low we set the bar... too low.
Donn Meriam on the Emery School Board has been a warm body taking up a seat until Board President John Affeldt needs a second to some wrong-headed policy...then the sleepy Donn Merriam springs into action. He's part of the 'yes person' culture at the Emery School Board. It's how the Center of 'Community' Life has been railroaded past dissenters; a strongman in charge on the Board with a bevy of yes people to support him. We should have known better when we did our inadequate vetting of Donn Merriam last year.
Donn has delivered consistent and unwavering support to President Affeldt's program of shutting out residents as they have sought a forum on the closing of Anna Yates Elementary School just like Mr Dwinn provided for Mr Simon but Mr Merriam has gone a step further than Mr Dwin ever did by also buttressing a program to torpedo comity among colleagues on the Board (brought by Mr Affeldt). In the unseemly Brown Act debacle still unfolding, Donn has happily joined President Affeldt in attacking fellow Board member Christian Patz after Mr Patz cried foul when he saw three Board members leaving a secret meeting in the Superintendent's office, a Brown Act violation. Donn Merriam gushed sanctimonious outrage that Mr Patz said the meeting he witnessed was improper. Later when President Affeldt and Superintendent Rubio admitted the meeting was illegal (under intense media pressure), and it was time for apologies to Mr Patz and the people of Emeryville, Mr Merriam offered up a big serving of total silence.
We blew it when we endorsed you Donn Merriam and we join the rest of Emeryville in our waiting for the apologies.
Donn Merriam's Skewed Worldview:
Loyalty to President Affeldt is What's Most Important
Lack of Comity at School Board:
Instead of Apologies We Get Total Silence
Loyalty to President Affeldt is What's Most Important
Lack of Comity at School Board:
Instead of Apologies We Get Total Silence
 |
| Donn Merriam A bit dickish and a John Affeldt 'yes man'. who supplanted... |
Donn Merriam sucks on the School Board...we're the first to admit it. He's served as a bump on a log and a 'yes man' to the current board president's dark and community disempowering vision since he got there. Before the last election, we thought Donn would be a breath of fresh air, likely better than the guy he beat out, Miguel Dwin; the former yes man for then School Board President Josh Simon. Now we can't qualify how he's been any better than Mr Dwin, indeed, he's shown to be actually worse in some regards.
In our defense, if you read the Tattler endorsement of Donn Merriam from October 2014, you'll note it was not our fondness for Mr Merriam as much as our realization of the need to get rid of Miguel Dwin that drove the endorsement. Mr Merriam was a new face and we went with that; a low bar that we admitted at the time. We now realize, some 13 months later, just how low we set the bar... too low.
 |
| ...Miguel Dwin a nice guy but ultimately just a yes man for Josh Simon. |
Donn has delivered consistent and unwavering support to President Affeldt's program of shutting out residents as they have sought a forum on the closing of Anna Yates Elementary School just like Mr Dwinn provided for Mr Simon but Mr Merriam has gone a step further than Mr Dwin ever did by also buttressing a program to torpedo comity among colleagues on the Board (brought by Mr Affeldt). In the unseemly Brown Act debacle still unfolding, Donn has happily joined President Affeldt in attacking fellow Board member Christian Patz after Mr Patz cried foul when he saw three Board members leaving a secret meeting in the Superintendent's office, a Brown Act violation. Donn Merriam gushed sanctimonious outrage that Mr Patz said the meeting he witnessed was improper. Later when President Affeldt and Superintendent Rubio admitted the meeting was illegal (under intense media pressure), and it was time for apologies to Mr Patz and the people of Emeryville, Mr Merriam offered up a big serving of total silence.
We blew it when we endorsed you Donn Merriam and we join the rest of Emeryville in our waiting for the apologies.
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